Gene Regulation and Translational Cancer Research

Cancer is a leading public health challenge in Chile and worldwide, with nearly 20 million new cases and close to 10 million deaths globally each year. This research cluster aims to advance our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms controlling gene expression and cellular processes that drive cancer progression, promote translational research by elucidating the cellular and molecular networks governing metastasis and therapy response, and ultimately leveraging this knowledge to develop novel biomarkers, identify new therapeutic targets, and improve cancer therapies.

Research of this research cluster is framed as part of a collaborative interdisciplinary Program “Translational Oncology” in a unique partnership with Fundacion Arturo López Pérez, a long-standing collaboration with a major public hospital Hospital Barros Luco Trudeau, and an international collaborative network with top-ranked cancer centers Institut Curie, UCL Cancer Institute, Centre for Immuno-Oncology - U.Oxford. This research cluster brings investigators and clinicians to ensure that biologically informed cancer research focuses on clinically relevant problems and translates into biomarker discovery and next-generation therapies that aim to improve patient outcomes.